A book that can trigger that kind of emotional response, for whatever reason should be lauded. As much as it’s mildly embarrassing to tear up in front of a roomful of strangers, there’s always a bathroom to hide in. Too often people aren’t affected enough by the humanity in everything—life, literature, music—it doesn’t matter, so when the waves come over me, I always kind of love it. Simply being able to feel things in a world where people have come to pride themselves on their thick skins and jadedness makes me just fine about being a weeper.

- Kudos to Teen Vogue (words I never thought I'd say) for featuring 25 diverse YA titles in their must-read summer books feature. Not only did they genre right (in other words, they recognized that YA is the reading level, and listed individual genres like sci-fi, romance, etc.), they also featured a wide variety, and scored bonus points with me for including nonfiction like the Grammar Girl series.

Kate is the author of After the Fall, coming January 24, 2017 from Farrar, Straus and Giroux. A former teacher and grant writer, she now owns a treehouse-building business in the Ozarks and hosts the Badass Ladies You Should Know interview series.

Love the links, especially the Harry Potter section. The HuffPost also ran a great article about Hermione in particular, linked to here: http://readandrevel.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/life-post-hermione-other-awesome-heroines/